On the evening of the 18th, the battalion was relieved by the Royal Canadian Regiment (Fritz had timed his raid just 24 hours too soon!!) and marched to Thélus Caves, from where we were transported by light railway to Fraser Camp (Mount St. Eloi), arriving there about dawn.

For purposes of comparison later on, let it be said that the total casualties of the battalion up to the present time, or for seven months’ active service, numbered eighteen officers and two hundred and seventy other ranks killed, wounded and missing.

Practically the whole of these memoirs so far has been devoted to the personnel of the battalion actually doing duty in the trenches, and no mention has been made of the work done by the Quartermaster’s department and the transport section.

Whenever the battalion moved into the line the transport and Quartermaster’s stores remained behind together with what was known as Rear Battalion Headquarters, and they were jointly responsible for supplying to the battalion each day, food, clothes, ammunition, rum, etc., in fact all the necessaries of life, and all the necessaries of war so far as the infantry soldier is concerned, including mail and reinforcements.

The men belonging to these sections did not therefore come actually into contact with the enemy, as was the case with the men in the trenches, but their duties were none the less arduous and none the less dangerous. Every night rations must be carried to the battalion in the line, and the roads and pathways along which the transport must travel were nearly always swept by machine gun and artillery fire, and the transport lines themselves came in for quite a little shelling by the German heavies.

Our transport section and Q.M. department had never let us down so far, which speaks very highly for their personnel, and that they never came into direct contact with the enemy is not strictly accurate, since a few days after arriving at Fraser Camp our Quartermaster, who was riding towards La Targette Corners, was chased by an enemy plane. His own description of his feelings when he realized the relative speed of his horse on the gallop and the German plane, is beyond words, and after a minute or so of terrible suspense, during which the German plane was putting machine gun groups all round him, he decided that the duel was unfair and promptly rolled off his horse into the ditch. The German airman flew home in triumph.

On the 30th September Divine Service for the whole Brigade was held in the fields around Berthonval Farm, and afterwards an investiture. The Corps, Divisional and Brigade Commanders were present and the Corps Commander personally decorated a number of our N.C.O’s. and men who had distinguished themselves in the raid of July 23rd. The proceedings were slightly marred by the activities of a German aeroplane, which seemed to be drawing the fire of every “Archie” in the neighborhood, with the result that nose caps were flying around and greatly disturbing the steadiness of the troops.

Raiding Party of “Stürm Trüppen”
Photo taken from prisoner.
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